Watch Stab High On ABC This Sunday

So you didn’t wanna pay the nine bucks to watch Stab High live. 

We totally get it.

An unproven competitive aggregator (Stab) puts on a novelty surf event and expects viewers, for the very first time in their sport’s history, to pay for what they’re watching. 

It was always gonna be hard to sell that mystery box. 

But while a great number of you did take that financial plunge (thank you!), there are certainly others who were too busy, thrifty, or disgruntled to book their ticket. And while we’ve been greedy with our Stab High clips, hoarding them in the office and watching Chippa’s shuv-it, Mason’s rodeo, and Eli’s flips on repeat, it’s finally time to share our magnum opus with the wider sporting world. 

That’s why on October 14th, at 6 pm Eastern and 3 pm Pacific, a condensed one-hour version of Stab High will play on ABC Sunday in the States. 

Considering the reader already knows who won Stab High, he or she might be wondering why it’s worth their time to watch.

Allow us to whet your palette:

First is Mason Ho. The Hawaiian not only scored the single highest maneuver of the event, but he also came excruciatingly close to landing several of surfing’s Never-Been-Dones, which include but are not limited to: Christ Airs, Benihanas, and finger-flips (which, to our knowledge, have only been completed by Stab High’s on-site announcer and wavepool Jedi Cheyne Magnusson). Had he simply taken it easy and landed one of his lofty frontside reverses, Mason would have won the event outright. However the alleged use of particular chemical compound made Mason surf strictly from his right brain, which led to wildly entertaining moments. 

Next is Chippa Wilson. The Aussie flyweight is considered one of the world’s most technical and consistent aerialists, which makes it extra special that he claimed to have landed, “maybe the best air of my life,” in the opening round. You’ll know it when you see it. 

And what, you’ve never heard of Eithan (pronounced Ay-tahn) Osborne? That’s about to change. Throughout warmups and the main event, this underground punter was a true standout, landing airs bigger and with more authority than most of our “famous” aerial contestants. According to event winner Noa Deane, Eithan landed the “sickest air of the event”, a backside grab air reverse with nose-sliding recovery. You’ll have to tune into see it. 

And lest we forget little Eli Hanneman. The 15-year-old phenom was the most consistent punter of the event and one of few to land a flip. As should be expected, such an incredible but non-winning performance put a thorn in the side of certain spectators, such as Eli’s shaper Matt ‘Mayhem’ Biolos, who respectfully shared his opposing views both with us in person and on his personal Instagram. 

Matt’s caption reads: @yagodora flipping out, with what most are calling a proper #McTwist. This was a few weeks back, on our team trip to @bsrcablepark. Having seen these two airs live, and up close, and also having been at the @stab_high event, I can say that these single grab, inverted airs, of Yago are the most technical and radical tricks I’ve seen on the right. Along with the @cocom4debarrelkilla freak thing he did on the left, in the @stab_high final. I still believe that @elihanneman should have won the @stab event, over the Varial/shuvits done by #NoaDeane, mainly because I watched and documented #JustinMatteson and #JoeCrimo pull off dozens of of shuvits and Varials daily, literally 25 years (a quarter century) ago. They had them on lock. But the corked flips Eli was doing barley existed just a few years back. Furthermore , he’s riding out of them, firmly planted , with speed and can bottom turn right into another move. Finally, I’d like to state my condolences for the NJ surfer who passed, after visiting Texas, and my admiration for how professionally and aggressively, the team at BSR are dealing with any possible or perceived dangers in the pool.

Tune into ABC on Sunday to decide whether Mayhem is right and we are terribly, terribly wrong. Or just enjoy the show!